Michele Yvette Abbate (born March 9, 1988) is an American professional racing driver. She competes in the

Trans-Am Series The Trans-Am Series presented by Pirelli is a sports car racing series held in North America. Founded in 1966, it is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). Primarily based in the United States, the series competes on a variety of ...

' West Coast Championship TA2 class for GRR Racing. Much of Abbate's career has come in

road racing Road racing is a North American term to describe motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held on a race track, closed circuit—generally, a purpose-built racing facility—or on a street circuit that uses temporarily c ...

, where she has four championships. She has also raced in the

Sports Car Club of America The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting Autocross, Rallycross, HPDE, Time Trial, Road Racing, RoadRally, and Hill Climbs in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs ...

and

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock cars. The series i ...

Racing career

Abbate's started in hobby

kart racing Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on kart circuit, scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on fu ...

. After getting her first car at the age of 16 in 2004, Abbate competed in local

autocross Autocross is a form of motorsport in which competitors are timed to complete a short course using automobiles on a dirt or grass surface, excepting where sealed surfaces are used in United States. Rules vary according to the governing or sanctioni ...

events sanctioned by the

. Her first national event came iat

Qualcomm Stadium San Diego Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in San Diego, California, United States. Opened in 1967 as San Diego Stadium; it was renamed Jack Murphy Stadium for sportswriter Jack Murphy (sportswriter), Jack Murphy from 1981 to 1997. From 1997 t ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

in 2007, where she finished on the podium. In 2008, she moved to

time attack In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team se ...

competitions and occasionally competed in INEX

legends car racing Legends car racing is a style of auto racing designed primarily to promote exciting racing and to keep costs down (as of 2022, a brand-new Legends car could be purchased in the USA for $17,500 USD). The race car bodyshells are 5/8-scale replicas ...

where she developed her road racing experience. In 2011, Abbate became a factory driver for

Scion Scion may refer to: Horticulture *Scion (grafting), in horticulture, the upper part of a combined plant Arts, entertainment, and media Characters *Atlantean Scion, a device in the ''Tomb Raider'' video game series *Scion, avatar of the warrior en ...

and finished runner-up in the 2011

National Auto Sport Association The National Auto Sport Association (NASA) is an American motorsports organization promoting road racing and high-performance driver education. Founded in 1991, NASA hosts High Performance Driving Events (HPDE), automotive Rallying, rallies, T ...

Time Trial standings, followed by winning the MotoIQ Pacific Tuner Car Championship the next year. Abbate started competing in the United States Touring Car Championship in 2014 for GRR Racing, a team formed by Abbate and her fiancé Anthony Philleo after she lost her original sponsor. She entered the 2015 SCCA Western Conference Majors Tour after receiving $13,000 in

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...

, where she won the championship and became the first female driver to be given the Lindley Bothwell Memorial Cal Club Driver of the Year Award. In 2017, Abbate raced in the

Bathurst 6 Hour The Bathurst 6 Hour, currently known as the Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour for sponsorship reasons, is an annual race for Group 3E Series Production Cars and other invited cars that was first held in 2016. The race is held on Easter Sunday, with p ...

, where she finished 49th. The following year, she finished on the GT-1 podium in the

SCCA National Championship Runoffs The SCCA National Championship Runoffs is the end-of-year championship race meeting for Sports Car Club of America Club Racing competitors. Divisional champions and other top drivers from the SCCA's 116 regions are invited to participate at the ...

Sonoma Raceway Sonoma Raceway (originally known as Sears Point Raceway, Golden State International Raceway and Infineon Technologies, Infineon Raceway) is a road course and dragstrip located at Sears Point in the southern Sonoma Mountains of Sonoma County, Cal ...

, the youngest woman to accomplish the feat. GRR Racing switched to the

' TA2 class for the 2019 season. In 2020, she finished second in the Trans-Am West Coast Championship with four top-five finishes in five races. At Sonoma, she became the first woman to finish on the podium in a TA2 race after taking third. In May 2021, Abbate joined On Point Motorsports for her

debut at

Circuit of the Americas Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is a Grade 1 Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA-specification motor racing track and facilities located in Austin, Texas, United States. The facility is home to the Formula One United States Grand Pr ...

; she finished second at the track in the Trans-Am West Coast Championship in 2020.

Personal life

Abbate's older brother Michael competed in karting. She graduated from the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the ...

in 2011 with a bachelor's degree in communications and marketing.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Camping World Truck Series

Season still in progress
Ineligible for series points

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abbate, Michele Living people NASCAR drivers American female racing drivers Racing drivers from Las Vegas 21st-century American sportswomen 1988 births Trans-Am Series drivers